The 1963 Carreras and Daytonas have more in common than you might think. First, the dials were made by the same manufacturer, Singer, and the movements were made by Valjoux (although Rolex made a couple minor tweaks to its Valjoux 72s). You will notice that the dials of these 1963 Daytonas and Carreras even have the same exact hour markers, milled registers, and numerals on those registers. Omega Speedmaster dials of the period were also made by Singer and have the same exact numerals.

While Rolex opted for its traditional steel case with more of a matte look and an external bezel, Heuer decided to go for a brighter look by using diamond polishing on the angular case and forgoing the external bezel. Both companies were in fact being true to their own DNA. The manual-wind Daytonas had steel cases in a shape and finish with clear Rolex roots going back to the 1930s, while the bold beveled lugs of the 1960s Carreras clearly descended from Heuer chronographs dating back to the 1940s.

Look at the bevels and see the evolution from a circa 1945 triple calendar chronograph to a circa 1954 Seafarer made by Heuer for Abercrombie & Fitch to a later Carrera

You can see the evolution of Heuer's beveled lugs in the photo above of a circa 1945 Heuer triple date chronograph, a circa 1954 Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer made by Heuer, and a special Carrera prototype for Valjoux.

Courtesy of OnTheDash.com

In fact, the three register steel Carrera was not the first reference 2447 made by Heuer. Heuer had been making a reference 2447 since the 1940s, as depicted in the 1946 catalog seen here. You can also see other early 2447 chronographs here.

The Origin of the Carrera

The Carrera name goes back to the Carrera Panamericana, a legendary (and frequently deadly) car race through Mexico. The Heuer connection can be traced back to March 1962, with Jack Heuer attending the 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida. Jack had just recently taken the reins of the company after buying out his uncle, who wanted to leave the business. Jack had been invited to Sebring by the Sports Car Club of America in appreciation of Heuer lending stopwatches and timing devices to serve as the timekeepers of the race.

Jack had an affinity for Ferraris and ended up stationing himself in the Ferrari pit. The two hotshot Ferrari drivers were the young Rodriguez brothers of Mexico. In fact, Ricardo, only 20 years old, was on the cover of that week's issue of Sports Illustrated in anticipation of the race.

Jack struck up a conversation with the brothers' parents and they expressed their gratitude that their boys were not old enough to have raced in the Carrera Panamericana, a race across Mexico which had ended in 1954. Over the five years of that race, 27 racers and spectators died, making it one of the deadliest sporting events of modern times.

Jack was struck by the name Carrera (meaning "race" or "career" in Spanish and easy to pronounce for most of the world) and decided to register it for Heuer later that year. Now he just needed a watch to go with the name.

Many people outside the world of watches have the idea that a high-end watch is made inside one factory. However, that is typically not the case. The movement may come from one company, the dial and hands from another, the crystal from another, the strap from another, and the case from another. This tradition of specialized production goes back to the earliest days of Swiss watchmaking.

Heuer was a small firm and relied on external suppliers for its components. The company would then assemble the pieces into watches. As a result, a primary job for Jack Heuer was to have his finger on the pulse of watch component suppliers in order to track new developments. In 1962 or 1963, he learned of a new invention by a watch crystal manufacturer: an angled steel tension ring would hold the crystal in place against the case in a way that would increase water resistance. Jack had the idea of painting this tension ring and using it to show the 1/5 second demarcations. This allowed for a simpler and cleaner dial and, combined with the recessed chronograph registers, added dimensionality to the watch.

Tension Ring Turned Inner Bezel

Jack became obsessed with legibility of dials after taking a course on the subject at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He hated the unnecessary tracks typically found on chronographs. A common chronograph track in the 1930s and 1940s was the telemeter to measure artillery distances during the war. Instead, Jack wanted to apply the principles of his studies to make a clean chronograph dial with baton markers. Jack Heuer has even suggested that he originally wanted the Carrera to have no tracks on the dial at all, but market forces required various tracks be added as options. Given his lack of interest in the versions with outer tracks, Singer simply reused the same track numerals and colors that had been on previous Heuer chronograph dials (e.g. red tachometer tracks and blue decimeter tracks).

Closer Look At The First Carrera Dial

Jack's yearning for a clean chronograph also came out of his fascination with modern design and architecture. He is a big fan of the architect Oscar Niemeyer and even took a trip to Brasilia as a young man in order to see Niemeyer's work. While a student, he saved up his money in order to buy an Eames Lounge Chair, which he say looked a little out of place in his dorm room.

So Jack had now identified a dial layout and crystal combination, but he needed a case. When the famed case maker Piquerez showed Jack a case with long, bold diamond-polished lugs, he was sold. The case showed a clear evolution from 1940s Heuer chronographs. Jack negotiated an exclusive license with Piquerez for the case, as he had for the crystal and tension ring.

Advertisement in a 1963 issue of Yachting magazine

It was time – the Carrera was introduced in 1963. There is a snippet on Google Books from the 1963 British Clock and Watch Manufacturers' Association Horological Journal, Volume 105 (of N.A.G. Press, 1963) announcing the Carrera and a further search reveals that there were a number of ads for the Carrera and mentions of it in 1963 publications, including the July 1st issue of Yachting magazine, which included the cost of the Carrera: $89.50.

Jack Heuer At The 50th Anniversary Of The Carrera Celebration in New York City

When TAG Heuer announced that 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the model, more than one prominent Heuer collector was perplexed. After all, in 1995, Heuer rolled out its 1964 Carrera replica. The best guess we have is that TAG Heuer at that time may have been relying on its catalogs for dating models, and the Carrera was first depicted in the 1964 catalog. So, TAG Heuer released its 40th anniversary Carrera in 2004. Since then, TAG Heuer has corrected the date of the Carrera's introduction and this year celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Carrera by hosting events in major cities around the world, like the one we covered in New York.

Identifying the Earliest Carreras

Carrera 2447N

So how can we identify the earliest Carreras (sometimes called "first execution Carreras")? They have a number of specific traits:

1. Serial Number: The serial number engraved between the lugs at the 6 o'clock position is perhaps the easiest way to identify how early a Carrera is. The very earliest Carrera known is number 53781. It is the reference 2447 N (N is for the "noir" or black dial) that is depicted in this article and was an eBay find in early 2012. We have also, amazingly, found a 2447 S with the serial 53785 and a 2447 S with the serial 53788 (seen below). In addition, these early Carreras also have larger serial numerals than those found on their successors. These three-register Carreras were called the "Carrera 12" since they have a register that can count up to 12 hours.

Starting in the 54XXX serial range, we begin to see the earliest two-register Carreras, ref. 3647, the earliest known of which is serial 54510. Inside are Valjoux 92 movements and in the Heuer catalogs and advertisements of the day they were called Carrera 45 models, since the minute registers count to 45 minutes. These 3647 Carreras were significantly less expensive than the 2447 Carreras: $69.50 versus $89.50.

It is hard to know where the transition between watches produced in 1963 and 1964 is. Jack Heuer said that the company used to have books recording serial numbers and watch details, as most fine Swiss manufacturers did, but the book was lost at some point. It might currently be residing in a Swiss landfill. It is unfortunate as those records would allow collectors a way to better authenticate watches. Maybe one day they'll surface.

Early, Swiss-only Dial

2. SWISS Only: The earliest Carreras simply say "SWISS" on the dial and do not have a "T" letter indicating tritium. Some collectors believe that the lume was still tritium, while others wonder whether these Carreras (and some early Autavias) may have used radium lume. It would take a Geiger counter and some more detailed analysis to say for sure, but in all likelihood they had tritium lume and the marking system for tritium was not yet uniform.

Later, T-Swiss Dial, As Seen In Arno Haslinger's Book

A 1964 Heuer catalog shows a variety of Carreras, all with SWISS and no T – this is probably the easiest way to spot these really early Carreras. However, according to noted Carrera collector and expert Mark Moss, it is possible that a few early Carreras may have a T above SWISS if they were headed to a few export markets that were early adopters of tritium import legislation. With watches, there are frequently exceptions to even the best known rules.

Heuer Carrera Signature and Baton Markers

3. Dial Markers: The dials have thin, beveled baton markers just like on the Rolex Daytona. The Carreras with tachometer, decimeter, and pulsometer tracks have slightly smaller baton markers to accommodate the numbering on the outer edge of the dial. They also have shorter hands to accommodate the smaller center dial area.

4. Uniform Dial Color: These early Carrera dials do not have contrasting registers like the 1963 Daytonas have. This seems to have been a conscious choice by Jack Heuer. At the time, Autavia dials did have the contrasting registers (white on black) and Heuer introduced contrasting Carrera dials starting in approximately 1967.

The earliest reference 2447 N Carrera dial in the Heuer archives

The earliest reference 2447 S Carrera dial in Heuer's archives

First execution Carrera dials were either matte black with white text or solid eggshell white with black text. When looked at in direct light, the early white dials shine with an almost speckle-like finish. It was only later (perhaps later 1964 or 1965) that Heuer began making Carreras with a silver starburst dial. These may have even replaced white dials for a time, though we can't be 100% sure about this as there are not definitive records. Also around that time, the 2447 N dials had the "Carrera" and "Heuer" text on the dial switched from white to silver. After a year or more, Heuer stopped producing silver starburst dials and fully went back to white dial production, although theses had shorter and stubbier hour markers and different register numerals.

Note the metallic edges of the two top right dials (a red tachometer on the left number 438 and a blue decimeter on the right numbered 439). The pulsations track on the dial numbered 446 also has a metallic finish.

The early Carreras with additional tracks had an interesting feature in that the tracks were beveled down, creating "pie pan" style dials that were metallic in appearance. It is a stunning look and very few survive. You can see a few examples above.

Photo by Jeff Stein of a Fisher 2447 D (note the metallic appearance of the decimeter track on the outer edge of the dial)

My guess is that Singer stopped producing the metallic tracks as they are more difficult to read than the later non-metallic tracks. As an aside, Carreras with tracks would be listed with a slightly different reference designation, as seen in the above 1964 catalog images. For instance, the watch directly above is a reference 2447 D, with the D signifying that it has a decimeter track.

Caseback Signed

Movement Signed

5. Signed Ed. Heuer: The movement bridges and casebacks are signed "Ed. Heuer" (short for Edouard Heuer, the founder of the company and Jack Heuer's great-grandfather). At some point a short while later, Heuer made the transition to using "Heuer-Leonidas" on the caseback and on the movement bridge. This was due to the Heuer purchase of Leonidas and the merger that took effect on January 1, 1964. We have seen a polygonal-back Carrera with the serial 56795 that had Heuer-Leonidas on the bridge, but Ed. Heuer on the caseback. The watch appeared never to have been serviced and to have been all original (found at a Chicago estate sale), so perhaps it came from 1964. We have seen slightly later watches with Ed. Heuer still on the bridge, so it is probable that Heuer was simply using up stock parts. It is difficult to say for certain without production records.

6. Notched (Then Polygonal) Casebacks: The very earliest Carreras have notched casebacks. We see this on the all Carreras we know of in the 537XX through 55XXX serial range. For a long time, collectors incorrectly thought the earliest had smooth polygonal casebacks (technically a dodecagon as it has 12 sides, but often called a "hexback" anyway). However, the first polygonal caseback Carrera we have seen happens to be a decimal version branded Fisher with a serial of 56355. Fisher Scientific was a company that sold technical equipment to labs and there are many Fisher-branded stopwatches (and a few Fisher wristwatches) out there. Jack Heuer has joked that scientists would use their supply budgets to purchase technical equipment from Fisher and sometimes include a Carrera wristwatch in the order. The scientist would then "forget" to take the Carrera off and make it their property.

Collector Mark Moss believes that the Carrera was never actually intended to have polygonal casebacks, but that Heuer may have had a leftover supply that happened to fit and decided to use those.

Carrera 2447 N On Black Leather Racing Strap

7. Hands: The hands on the earliest Carreras were narrower than on later Carreras. This is similar to the earliest Mark 1 Daytonas, as they also had narrower hands than found on later Daytonas.

Unsigned Crown and Pushers

8. Crowns: While later Carreras had crowns with the Heuer shield on them, the earliest examples had entirely unsigned crowns (with the exception of the Carrera Dato 45 watches, which never had signed crowns). The crowns on the earliest Carreras are also slightly larger than those on later Carreras, making them slightly easier to wind. As seen above, the large crown and pushers were touted in the 1963 Carrera announcements as making the chronograph easy to operate.

9. Thin Black Straps: The first Carreras all seemed to originally come on thin 18mm black straps. The Gay Freres double beads of rice bracelets were not yet available and were introduced on the Carrera circa 1965. However, some people have purchased later bracelets and put them on their early Carrera.

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Final Thoughts

Very Early Carrera 2447N

1960s Carreras are arguably some of the sleekest and most beautiful chronographs ever made. The case design lives on today in TAG Heuer's current Carrera lineup (and the lugs in skeleton form on some of TAG Heuer's newest watches, including haute horlogerie models). The Carrera remains one of the brand's most recognizable watches, only rivaled by the Monaco. And the early Carreras are woefully undervalued, in our humble opinion.

To give you an idea of the earliest Carrera prices, the 2447 N in this article was picked up for under $3,500 on eBay in early 2012 in all original, unpolished condition (with a 1963 engraving on the caseback), although from a seller with terrible photographs – we mean really terrible:

The woeful eBay image of the 2447 N with serial 53781 depicted in this article

The most valuable Carreras of the 1960s are those with Valjoux 72 movements and either "panda" dials (silver dials and black registers) or black dials and white registers. These routinely sell in the $6,000 to $8,000 range (and are climbing). At this point in time, the market does not place a premium on the earliest Carreras. However, a main reason for that is that not a lot was really known about these outside of a small group of collectors and there are very few examples in existence.

Later 1960s

Those that are in existence seem to surface in random places such as flea markets or garage sales, then sometimes find their way to eBay. For instance, someone at OnTheDash recently showed off a rare Autavia they had bought for two dollars at a garage sale. A main reason for this is that many people do not recognize the name Heuer like they might Rolex.

The Carrera that TAG Heuer mistakenly shows as dating to 1963

Ben ended his review of the Mk1 Daytona by saying it was his hope that Rolex would show a Mk1 Daytona on its website historical timeline rather than a later Paul Newman Daytona. I share a similar hope for TAG Heuer, which currently shows a slightly later Carrera (probably circa 1964 or 1965) with a silver starburst dial and a "T" above Swiss on its website and in promotional materials as the 1963 Carrera. In a perfect world, TAG Heuer would switch that image to one of an early 1963 2447 N or S.

But, website images aside, it is difficult to overstate the role the Carrera has played in both (TAG) Heuer's history and the history of the modern chronograph in general. We don't use the word "icon" easily, but the Carrera is nothing short of just that.

Special Thanks

A special thank you to Shaun Wainstein, Nic Green, and Jeff Stein for allowing the use of their personal images and watches in this story, as well as for their various insights as I conducted my research. Thank you also to Mark Moss for his insights.

Also, thank you to TAG Heuer for providing the opportunity to review its dial records and to Jack Heuer for his personal insights about the origin of the Carrera.